Sports news from Los Angeles and beyond

Leiweke: Kings are not for sale

January 21, 2011 | 12:15
pm

Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive of AEG--the Kings’ parent company--said Friday the company is not trying to sell the team despite persistent rumors that cite unnamed financiers in saying the Kings are for sale.

In December Forbes magazine, citing unidentified bankers, said owner Philip Anschutz was “shopping the Kings around.” Leiweke refuted that report shortly after it appeared and on Friday refuted the revival of that rumor on the website of L.A. Observed.

“We get calls all the time,” Leiweke told The Times. “We are neither looking at or in talks to sell. Very focused on the NFL.”

AEG, which has owned the Kings since October of 1995 and also owns the Staples Center and an interest in the Lakers, is proposing the construction and financing of a downtown stadium that would house a still-unsecured NFL team.

A hockey source who requested anonymity said that while it's possible Anschutz might be willing to sell all or part of the hockey team, potential buyers have also wanted to buy an interest in Staples Center, which Anschutz would not consider.

--Helene Elliott

Photo: Tim Leiweke in his office with a bobblehead doll of former Kings player Luc Robitaille in January 2010. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times